Taciturn
by ladybugbirdie42
Summary: "Nobody's going to want to deal with all your problems. Sure they'll take you in, pretend they care, but in the end they'll get tired of taking care of you and just throw you away." He wants to deny that, but it's hard to when the only one he trusts suddenly dumps him on someone he isn't close to. Even worse when he gets stuck with an uninvited guest. But maybe it's not all bad.
1. Chapter 1

_Okay, so I wasn't going to post this because it's just this random, incredibly self-indulgent thing I wrote, but I somehow ended up with three thousand words of it, so I figured, why not? It couldn't hurt (probably)._

 _Lithuania's mute in this due to trauma, just an fyi._

 _I have one other chapter written that I'll post later._

* * *

' _I'm sorry.'_

The rain softly tapped on the roof, droplets gathering and falling off the roof, plopping onto the leaves of the bushes below. It was a light rain—a drizzle that served only to make the world wet and gloomy.

Lithuania sat with his back against the wall next to the window. His knees were drawn up to his chest, and his gaze was trained on the cube in his hands, his brows furrowed in concentration as he twisted the sections, trying to solve the puzzle. The soft clicks from the cube fit with the quiet pattering of the rain and Poland's hushed voice from behind the closed door to the kitchen. Everything seemed muted.

He couldn't understand what Poland was saying, but he sounded worried, and the last he'd seen him before he'd disappeared into the kitchen he'd looked upset.

The blocks twisted faster.

He wasn't even really trying to solve it anymore. He'd stopped trying a while ago. All it really was now was something to mess with. Something to concentrate on. A coping mechanism.

Another click. One that sounded above the muted symphony.

Lithuania looked up, wincing slightly at the bright light suddenly flooding the dim room. The door to the kitchen was open now, allowing the light to pour in, and Poland was there. He wasn't wearing his usual grin.

And the blocks were still moving.

"We need to talk." Serious, but just as hushed as everything else.

Poland unceremoniously plopped down onto the couch, the casualness of the action contradicting the seriousness in his tone.

Lithuania didn't move.

Poland gestured for him to join him, and Lithuania reluctantly put the cube down and walked over, wringing his hands.

Poland slid over to the end of the couch, leaning his back against the armrest and bringing up his knees so he could sit facing Lithuania who sat, rigid, at the other end of the couch. He kept his eyes locked on his lap where his hands were tightly clasped. He fidgeted, occasionally sending quick glances towards the blond sitting at the other end of the couch.

Sighing, Poland took the hair tie off his wrist and placed it in the middle of the couch. As soon as he drew his hand away, Lithuania reached out and took it, twisting and untwisting it around his fingers.

"You're gonna be living with Liz for a while."

Lithuania looked up then, meeting his eyes with a questioning look.

' _Why?'_

"Something, like, came up. It's not, like, a huge deal or anything, so you don't need to worry about it whatever. I just didn't want to, like, leave you on your own, ya know?" The smile was back (along with an obviously forced casual speech pattern), but he didn't believe it for a second.

' _Did I do something wrong?'_

"So, y'know, you might wanna go, like, pack your stuff."

Lithuania gave a small nod and got up, not looking at him.

" _Nobody's going to want to deal with all your problems. Sure they'll take you in, pretend they care, but in the end, they'll get tired of taking care of you and just throw you away."_

* * *

"Can I ask a huge favor?"

Hungary ran her fingers through her hair. Despite his casual tone at the beginning of the call, she'd had a feeling that this was about more than the usual round of gossip.

"What did you get yourself into this time?" He was always getting into some sort of trouble and had asked her countless times to bail him out. She had learned the hard way not to agree to anything without knowing first what exactly she was agreeing to.

A deep breath. Then rapid-fire. "I've been taking a ton of time off work 'cuz I, like, didn't want to leave Liet at home alone, but, like, my boss won't let me take any more time off, but I don't think Liet's, like, ready to be on his own, and, like, I can't ask Estonia 'cuz he's got his hands full with Latvia, and I don't want to ask America 'cuz I don't want to, like, send Liet halfway across the world; also, America's just a kid, y'know, and I don't want to get him involved with this 'cuz I don't think he can handle it, and you're, like, the only other person I can think of that Liet trusts, so can he crash at your place for a couple weeks? Please? I promise I'll make you a totally fabulous dress."

After approximately two seconds of not receiving an answer, he prompted, "Liz?"

"Fine," she gave in, though she was still trying to process everything he had just thrown at her.

* * *

"He really likes cooking, and apparently it helps him relax, so you should let him do the cooking, but you have to watch him, okay? Don't leave him in the kitchen by himself. Or really anywhere else, actually. You have to watch him Liz. You got that?"

"Yes, Feliks, I understand. I won't take my eyes off him."

He sent a quick glare her way at the tone in her voice. "Make sure he eats. And don't let him stay up too late. Hey, do you have any nightlights? I think he does better when it's not completely dark. Oh, and he doesn't really like to sleep alone. And sometimes he has nightmares. And—"

"Po, you sound like an overprotective mother." She grinned at him, her tone teasing.

He elbowed her. "I don't think you're taking this seriously enough."

She sighed. "Poland, you're worrying about this way too much. Everything's going to be fine. Don't forget, unlike you I actually have experience with kids."

"He's not a kid, Liz."

"From the way you're talking, it sure sounds like he is."

"Look, just call me if you need anything or if anything goes wrong."

"Let me guess, you're going to be giving me nightly calls demanding a complete report of every single thing that happened that day."

"Of course I am. Take good care of him."

"Everything's going to be fine, Feliks."


	2. Chapter 2

_To my two reviewers, thank you so much for your kind words. This is the last bit I have written so far. I hope that you will enjoy this chapter as well._

 _I would also like to go on record and say that I am not used to writing Prussia, and I am sorry for all of this. Thank you._

* * *

Prussia grinned to himself as he rang the doorbell over and over and over again. He had gotten kicked out of the house for annoying Germany while he was trying to work, so what better to do than to harass Hungary instead?

After about a minute, though, Prussia's smile fell and turned into a look of disappointment. He had expected Hungary to have slung open the door by now, brandishing a frying pan and yelling at him for bothering her, but the door had yet to open. Had she gone out?

Just as he was about to give up and leave, the door finally opened. Hungary leaned against the doorframe. She was dressed casually in jeans and a tank top, her hair pulled into a messy ponytail. But what stood out to him the most was how tired she looked.

"What do you want?" she asked, the usual sharpness dulled by exhaustion.

"Are you okay?" Prussia asked with uncharacteristic concern. Despite the way they bickered, he considered her a close friend.

"I'm fine," she replied, waving him off. She cut him off before he could say he didn't believe her. "Can you do a favor for me?"

When he nodded his assent, she gave him a tired smile. "Thanks. I need to go grocery shopping. Can you watch Lithuania for me?"

"What?"

But she was already heading to her car. "Bye!" she said with much more energy than before.

As she drove off, Prussia cursed himself for letting himself get tricked.

But what did she mean by "watch Lithuania"?

Confused, he entered the house, calling, "Litauen?"

He didn't receive an answer, but the lights were on in the kitchen, so he decided to start there.

Lithuania was at the kitchen table, lining up dominoes. Prussia waited a few moments for him to notice his presence, but after a few seconds of being ignored he sat down at the opposite end of the table with a huff. His leg accidentally knocked the table when he sat down, and all the dominoes fell.

Lithuania's hand jerked back, clutching the domino he had been about to place. He gave Prussia a pitiful stare, looking like he might actually cry.

In his youth, Prussia had considered tormenting Lithuania almost a game of sort, and getting a reaction like that would've been the ultimate prize. But now he just felt...guilty.

He wasn't about to apologize, though.

Prussia leaned back in his chair so that the front legs were slightly off the ground in an attempt at casualty to hide his discomfort.

"Been a while since I've seen you. How've you been?"

Lithuania didn't respond. He just stared at Prussia with a look of apprehension, though it lacked the hatred Prussia was used to seeing directed at him. If anything, it reminded him of a cornered animal.

The front legs of the chair slammed into the ground, and Lithuania jumped, dropping the domino and bolting from the room.

Prussia could only stare at the door Lithuania had escaped through. This just kept getting weirder and weirder. Really, what had he gotten himself into this time?

With a sigh, he got up and left to go find Lithuania. Again.

He was quickly becoming grateful that Hungary's house was relatively small.

* * *

About half an hour later, after a bit of searching and a lot of coaxing, Prussia and Lithuania were sitting on the living room couch. Prussia was lounging on one end, absentmindedly flipping through channels. Lithuania was curled up in the other corner, knees drawn up, arms on his knees, and face buried in his arms.

Every time he so much as shifted, Lithuania's head snapped up, a panicked look in his eyes, so eventually Prussia just settled back on the couch, trying to be as still as possible.

He glanced at Lithuania. He looked so small and vulnerable, more like a child than Prussia remembered ever having seen him look. He'd known him as a child, and even back then he had given off the impression of being older than he appeared. Of course, being a nation, he _had_ been, but even among other nations he had always been mature.

But now he just looked like a scared child—so different from the warrior he was used to seeing—and it unnerved him.

He was used to seeing Lithuania on the battlefield. Used to bickering with him and teasing him. He wasn't used to this. Whatever _this_ was.

He sighed, and Lithuania peeked out from behind his arms, giving him a questioning look.

"Uh, hey, how 'bout some…" Beer would be his drink of choice, but he wasn't at his own home and technically he was supposed to be babysitting, so it probably wasn't appropriate in any way. And he didn't even know if Hungary had beer anyway. Not to mention he was pretty sure Lithuania wasn't big on alcohol. "Tea..?" is what he ended up deciding on. He knew Hungary had plenty around because Austria, and he was pretty sure Lithuania was a tea person.

Prussia was halfway out of his seat, fully intending to make the tea himself, but apparently Lithuania thought he was telling him to make it, as he was off the couch and in the kitchen before Prussia had even stood.

He sat back down with a sigh. Well, fine then.

About ten minutes later, Lithuania was back, carrying a tray with one of Hungary's tea sets. There was only one teacup on it, Prussia noted, and he knew it wasn't for Lithuania.

' _Why didn't he bring a cup for himself?'_

Maybe he was reading too much into it. Maybe he was making a big deal out of nothing. After all, Lithuania may just have not wanted tea.

But everything about him had just been so off. He was so—

 _Subservient._

He felt a slight nausea as the word fixed itself in his brain. The way he refused to meet his eyes. The deference.

The fear.

Lithuania's hands were shaking. He could tell from the slight clatter of the tea set, and he stood up to take the tray before Lithuania dropped it.

Lithuania jerked, and the hot tea spilled all down the front of his shirt as the porcelain hit the ground and shattered, pieces shooting everywhere.

Prussia swore, which, based on Lithuania's reaction, was not a good way to handle the situation.

Lithuania had dropped to his knees and was frantically grabbing shards with his bare hands, his entire body noticeably trembling.

' _Does he not care about the burns?'_

Prussia knelt so that he was on the same level as Lithuania. "Hey, stop that. You're going to hurt yourself." _'Well, hurt yourself more.'_ It was too late for him not to get hurt.

He pried a shard from Lithuania's grip, which had tightened when he completely froze at Prussia's movement. Prussia examined his hands, frowning at the multiple lacerations covering them.

He stood, gently tugging Lithuania up in an indication to follow. "Come on. We need to take care of that burn and those cuts. We can clean up later."

Lithuania looked almost…surprised at what he said. And, yeah, maybe Prussia did feel a slight stab at his heart. Mostly, though, he was glad that Lithuania had more-or-less calmed down. He was thankful that Lithuania was reacting well to the physical contact because based on the way he had been acting, he didn't think touching him was a good idea. But he was handling it surprisingly well.

Maybe he was going into shock.

That idea left him feeling a lot less relieved and a lot more worried. He needed to hurry.

His hand slid down to cup around Lithuania's, holding his hand like he used to do with Germany when he was younger, and led him down the hall to the bathroom.

He debated for a second whether or not to close the door before opting to leave it open so Lithuania wouldn't feel like he was trapping him in there. He thought he was getting a better idea of where Lithuania's mental state was.

He sat Lithuania on the edge of the tub and then went to the cabinet to see what kind of medical supplies he could find. Fortunately, it seemed Hungary kept her cabinet surprisingly well-stocked. Burn cream, rubbing alcohol, bandages.

"Litauen, I need you to take off your shirt, okay?" he said as he grabbed everything he needed from the cabinet.

He turned towards Lithuania only to find him staring blankly at the floor. He wasn't responding. Prussia cursed under his breath.

He set the supplies down on the ground by the tub and knelt, shifting uncomfortably for a few seconds before finally mumbling an apology as he reached towards the collar of Lithuania's shirt. He heard a soft whimper as he started undoing the top button. He froze, looking up to meet Lithuania's pleading gaze.

"Are you going to do it yourself?"

Lithuania's gaze dropped back to the floor, shoulders caving slightly. Prussia took that as a 'no'.

He sighed. "Listen. I'm not going to hurt you, okay? But we need to take care of this burn."

Lithuania didn't try to fight him as he unbuttoned the rest of his shirt, but he could tell he was uncomfortable. Well Prussia wasn't exactly enjoying himself either.

Then he saw it.

He stood up. Too fast. Lithuania flinched hard, almost falling into the tub, but he barely noticed as he stumbled to the toilet and threw up. Beneath the nausea his stomach turned with something else—anger.

' _Russia.'_

When he came back, he found Lithuania holding his shirt closed, staring at the floor. His expression—it was so _hurt_ —tore an unbidden "I'm sorry" from his throat.

Prussia knelt in front of Lithuania again. "I'm sorry," he repeated. "i wasn't expecting it." Though, in retrospect, he should have. When Lithuania didn't move, he pushed further. "Listen, I'm not disgusted by it—by you. I'm disgusted by the fact that someone would do this to you in the first place. None of this is your fault."

' _What am I doing?'_

Lithuania stared at him for a moment, expression unreadable, and he shifted uncomfortably.

What? Did he do something wrong? Say the wrong thing? Ugh, of course, he did. What was he think—

His thoughts were cut off by movement. Lithuania had slid his shirt halfway down his arms and turned so that his back was facing Prussia.

It was worse. So much worse.

Lithuania was looking away, afraid to see his reaction, but Prussia knew he was waiting for it.

He could feel nausea churning his stomach again, but he forced it back through sheer willpower. He couldn't throw up again.

Despite it being worse, controlling his reaction was easier this time because he wasn't caught off-guard (and, as bad as the scars were, seeing them didn't have quite the same effect as seeing those Cyrillic words carved into his body like it was some canvas).

Lithuania stared at him with a hesitant hopefulness, and he froze. This was a critical moment. Lithuania was opening up to him. If he said the wrong thing, he might close himself off again. From everyone. This was a chance to help push him a step towards healing, but Prussia had no idea what to do.

But he had to do something.

"I'm sorry." He cringed internally when Lithuania's expression turned back into one of hurt. Wrong move. "I—look. I'm not very good at this sort of thing. I have no idea what you want me to say. All I can do is say that what he did to you was wrong, but you don't have to worry anymore because I—we—will protect you."

He was almost afraid to see Lithuania's reaction. But apparently he did something right because Lithuania gave him a tiny grateful smile.

He smiled back. "Now let's take care of this burn."


	3. Chapter 3

_A short chapter this time. I meant to make it longer, but it wasn't working, and I felt bad for not updating in forever, so here you go. Hope you enjoy, and hopefully I'll do better with getting the next chapter out, but no promises._

* * *

They were still trying to clean up the mess in the living room when Hungary got back. Lithuania all but froze at the sound of the front door opening, and Prussia sighed in despair at the return of that same terrified look he had become too familiar with over the past couple hours.

"Really, Gil? I can't leave you alone in my house for two hours without you making a mess?"

He shrugged. "You're the one who invited me in."

"I don't think that's what happened. Help me put these groceries up, will you?"

"Fine." He stood up, glancing back down at Lithuania. "Can you handle the rest on your own?"

He was pretty sure the answer to that was a solid "no", but Lithuania nodded anyway despite obviously still being upset about something, and Prussia was forced to accept it because Hungary's gaze was boring holes through him.

He knew full well that as nice as the request had sounded, it really wasn't a request at all.

"Thanks for playing along back there."

He glanced her way as he opened the fridge. "You knew he was the one who broke it?"

She sighed. "It's not the first time something like this has happened. And besides, even without words, he says a lot. He's really not that hard to read, you know."

"You making fun of me?"

Hungary laughed. "I guess you're not as stupid as I thought."

He gave her his best sulky face. It morphed into a real frown. "He really doesn't talk much, does he?"

"He doesn't talk at all."

"What?"

"Apparently he hasn't said a word since before the Union collapsed."

"Seriously? How can anyone go that long without talking?"

She gave him a teasing smile. "Well, I know you certainly couldn't. You never shut up."

"Liz, seriously."

"You, too? I understand it from Poland, but you two aren't even that close, are you?"

"Aren't you worried?"

"Of course, I am! I just—" She sighed. "Did something happen while I was gone?"

"You mean besides breaking everything?"

She elbowed him. "See who's joking now."

He lightly shoved her back. "Yeah, yeah." He quickly sobered up, though, and the light atmosphere faded. "He burned himself pretty badly," he said with a grimace. "When he dropped the tray. The tea spilled all over him. I took care of it, but he really shouldn't be moving around so much."

"I'll talk to him, but I doubt he'll listen. He gets anxious when he isn't doing anything."

Prussia nodded absently, busy trying to figure out how he wanted to ask his next question.

"What is it?" Hungary prompted.

"Have you seen his scars?"

She sighed, looking away sadly. "I have."

"Do you think they'll ever go away?"

"I don't know, Gil. I really don't."


	4. Chapter 4

_Welcome back to drama and bs psychology. Hopefully, the line-breaks are all where they're supposed to be. Do tell me if anything seems off in that area. As always, no promises for updates on anything, but, hey, at least I kind of have a plan for this story now (maybe)._

* * *

They were nice. Prussia, Hungary, Poland—they were all nice.

He didn't deserve that.

* * *

He woke up to Lithuania pacing around the whole house, obviously upset about something.

 _It's way too early for this._

He grabbed him by the arm to stop him. "What are you so upset about so early in the morning?"

Unfortunately the question just made them both more upset as Prussia grew frustrated over not being able to figure out what was wrong and Lithuania got frustrated over not being able to communicate what was wrong.

Prussia sighed. "Look, I don't know what you're so worked up over, but you need to calm down. It's going to be all right." Probably. He decided changing the subject to try to get Lithuania's mind off of whatever was bothering him would be the best course of action. "You want breakfast?"

The way Lithuania looked at him told him that he didn't appreciate Prussia's apparently flippant attitude towards whatever was causing him distress, but he followed Prussia to the kitchen nevertheless.

* * *

Given a task, Lithuania seemed to calm down a little bit. At least for the time being.

Prussia would have loved to have just left it at that, but he got the feeling that leaving the issue unaddressed probably wasn't the best way to deal with this.

Which was great and all, but there was no way he could possibly address the problem when he had no idea what he was supposed to be addressing in the first place.

Well, he could always 20 Questions it.

That morning, Lithuania had been checking all over the house, maybe—

"Were you looking for something?"

The sudden question startled Lithuania, and he jumped, looking over at Prussia warily.

 _Nice going, self._

"Earlier," he clarified, "you looked like you were trying to find something. Did you lose something?"

Lithuania nodded, paused, then shook his head.

 _What is that supposed to mean?_

"Do you want me to help you find it?"

He received a much more certain 'no' in response to that one.

"Well, is it something you need? Are you going to be okay without it?" How important whatever he lost was would determine how much Prussia would be able to calm him down.

Unfortunately, he didn't get much of an answer out of Lithuania, who just looked away. Finally, he gave a half-hearted shrug, which really wasn't any more helpful.

Prussia frowned down at the food he was preparing. This wasn't getting anywhere. He still knew just about as much as he did when he started.

"Are you mad at me?"

Lithuania all but froze, frantically shaking his head.

"Really? Because all you've been doing this whole time is giving me cryptic answers when I'm just trying to help you." He made the mistake of letting his frustration show in his words.

And now he'd upset Lithuania again. Great.

Prussia forced himself to set everything down carefully before he turned and left the kitchen, leaving Lithuania, eyes closed and hands covering his ears.

* * *

She was gone when he woke up. He'd searched the whole house, so he knew for sure—she was gone.

This had happened yesterday, too. She'd just left without any warning.

Was she going to abandon him too?

Oh, but yesterday she had come back eventually. She'd be back. He just had to wait.

She had to come back eventually, right? This was her house, after all.

Yes, she'd be back. Eventually.

He just had to wait.

* * *

The door softly opened, and Lithuania peeked in. A look of relief briefly crossed his features when his eyes landed on Prussia, but it was pretty quickly replaced with his usual nervousness.

Lithuania opened the door more fully and came in, carrying a tray with breakfast on it.

"You didn't have to—" Prussia started saying automatically, but he cut himself off, quickly changing his approach. "Thank you." He could tell he'd chosen right when Lithuania relaxed a bit.

That had been close. Just how many times could he mess up in one morning?

"I don't think Liz would appreciate me eating in the bedroom, though. Why don't we go to the dining room? We can eat together."

* * *

Prussia looked at him the same way Poland and Hungary looked at him when he did something he wasn't supposed to do.

But he still hadn't figured out how they wanted him to act.

It was all backwards.

Whenever he did what he was supposed to do, they always gave him that look that meant he was doing something wrong, but they never really told him what it was exactly that he was doing wrong.

Poland had kind of tried to teach Lithuania how he was supposed to act, but it never really made sense. He said he should just be the way he used to be.

But that wasn't as easy as it sounded.

And nothing he tried ever felt right.

He already knew he could never be the old Lithuania again.


End file.
